Kamen Rider Fourze Episodes 27-34 Super Overview

Alright folks, in order to get back up to speed on Fourze, I figured I would share my thoughts on the last few episodes that have been airing while I’ve been out of action. I have been keeping up with the show and needless to say I continue to be impressed with how the overall production is going, especially with the overarching storylines that are ramping up as we soon get to welcome Kamen Rider Wizard. Get the whole shebang after the jump.

Episodes 27-28: The Meteor Storm upgrade episode. I was actually surprised they pulled this upgrade early, last time the W Team did an upgrade for the secondary rider, it was a few episodes after W-X-Treme had made it’s debut. I also found the continued cracking of Ryusei’s persona to be interesting and I wondered if this was something  intentionally being caused by Tachibana in order to force Ryusei into becoming a more-mentally balanced Rider as when he had first debuted he was a giant pain in the posterior, almost on IXA levels. Kijima was also a fun character, it was pretty sad that he had to go, but at this point the show is going straight to the Horoscopes and skipping the filler Zodiarts, so it can be understandable. I also like Hayami’s little trick at the end to fool Virgo into sending Kijima into the Dark Nebula. One has to give Amano props for taking a role and probably extending it through sheer will all the way until the end. Of course, the sexiness helps too. As for Meteor Storm, I love the design, but I’m not really too fond of the Beyblade finisher, but then again, you can’t have Meteor upstaging Cosmic States.

Episodes 29-30: Okay, we get ONE MORE filler Zodiart arc, and this is only to unveil not only the 39th switch, but also where the writing staff finally gives Ohsugi a reason to still be in the cast. What we have here is a classic “Weak dude wants to protect his ladyfriend by embracing darkness” arc, and the KRC is stuck in the middle trying not only to get the dude to stop using the switch, but also knock some sense into the lady as she has absolutely no trust in them due to a bullying incident. It was dramatic at times, but there was also a ton of comedy which was nice, plus these episodes are great just for the following reaction:

Episodes 31-32: Well, with the brief comedy breather out of the way, we move on to the Final Form Upgrade Arc, in this case Cosmic States. This is probably the most intense arc filmed so far in the show, in which we see Ryusei finally crack and literally fall to pieces in many ways, from the moment he kills Gentarou, to his actions worsening Jiro’s health, and then finally his last stand battling Aries without the Meteor Driver. I was particularly impressed how the staff pulled this off as I and I’m sure many folks had felt that Aries would probably be saved towards the end as resolving long plot arc in the 40s is a long-standing trope of Heisei Kamen Rider, so for them to drop the need to change on the Ryusei character with the weight of a 100-ton brick was very much satisfying and once again proved how much the W/Fourze Team likes to deviate from the norm to an extent. It was also a nice arc to show the bond the members of the KRC had for each other, as their friendship was the needed catalyst for Cosmic States to properly work, and work it did. Some aspects of the design look silly, but in action Cosmic States is a BEAST with only one real weakness that comes up in a few episodes. Another set of special props needs to go to the actors for Gentarou and Ryusei as they had to do quite a bit of out-of-suit fight choreography and I do think they pulled that aspect off rather well.

Episodes 33-34: With the craziness of the last arc, we once again get more of a lighter-tone with this arc, in which the gang has to deal with Libra running around and trying to destroy a series of tower that are focusing Cosmic Energy around the city of Kyoto. This is also the arc where we get the “Feudal Kamen Rider” trope, where we have to watch the cast dress up vintage-style and act like samurais for a bit. I did feel for Yuuki, stuck as a everyday citizen complete with bald head on top. The main three things to take out of this arc are that for one, the Leo Zodiarts is a true warrior who will probably not be finished off until the end as he was able to overwhelm both Meteor Storm and Cosmic States (although I do have a feeling he’ll end up as Ryusei’s main rival towards the end), for two, we have a new supporting character, Professor Emoto who worked with Kengo’s father and Gamou, and finally for three, Gamou admits that he at least was responsible for Kengo’s dad being stranded on the Moon to die. Oh, I do like how the writers have had a knack for Gentarou being able to swag his way into have so many women fall for him, he’s almost as bad as Hayami in that regard.

Stay tuned for another Overview in which I’ll cover my thoughts on Episodes 35-40. HENSHIN!